لم يبق في الدهر شيء بعد ذا حسن

قد أزمع الحسن والإحسان والحسن

There remains in time no beauty after this beauty

Beauty, benevolence, and beauty have departed

حلَّت غداة نوى الترحال ظعن فتى

حي الحلال فيا لا قوض الظعن

She left one morning after intending to travel, a slender doe

Pure of lawful livelihood, what a departure of the slender doe

مضت بموءتمن عمن مضى خلف

باق وحين مضى لم يبقَ مؤتمن

She has passed on from one who has passed on behind

Remaining is the confidant, and when he passed away none remained confidant

يا مرعي العين ان تلتذَّ في وسنٍ

ازل قذى العين حتى يرعوي الوسن

O you who graze the eye, if you indulge in youth

The splinter will wound the eye until it grazes the youth

ان الذي غاب عن انسانها لفتى

لولا الممات لأحيت جعفر السنن

That which was absent from its people was for a youth

If not for death, it would have revived Ja'far's traits

لا درَّ درُّ زمان قد اساء بما

قد نال من حسن يا قبح الزمن

Time does not know the value, it has done wrong with what

It took from beauty, how ugly is time

لِلّه درُّاخٍ نازعته بفمي

درَّ اللبان فصافي بيننا اللبن

To God is the value of one whose mouth rivaled mine

The value of frankincense, so the milk between us is pure

وصاحبٍ ليَ قد الوى لطيته

اتبعته شجناً لو عاقه الشجن

And a friend of mine whose bend I followed

I followed him yearningly, if only yearning followed him

اخفى عليه تباريحي واعلنها

وليس ينفعني سرٌّ ولا علن

I hid my innermost feelings from him and declared them

Neither secret nor open benefits me

حتى رميت بوجد غير مكتمن

والوجد يبرز احيانا ويكتمن

Until I let flow an uncovered passion

And passion surfaces at times and hides at times

كم مورد ساغ بعد الحتف بابن تقى

ما كل مورد حتف ماؤه اسن

How many a watering place was wholesome after death for a son of piety

Not every watering place, its water wholesome

يا عثرة الدهر فيمن كم اقال بني ال

دهر العثار لخاب العاثر الافن

O stumbler of fate, how many a son of lineage you brought down

Time that makes stumble, miserable is the stumbler

ليت العثار لوجه فيه غبرته

وجلَّ آخر طلق المجتلى حسن

If only the stumbler were to soil his face

And rid us of another free of blemish, of beautiful face

لا قلت بعدك للدهر العثور لعا

ولا اقيل ومن قالوا لعاً لعنوا

After you, I will not say misfortune to fate

Nor blame, and those who said misfortune were cursed

وناعم بدنا في منزل خشن

افضي عليه بنعمى المنزل الخشن

And we lived delicately in a rugged dwelling

So bestow upon it my blessings, O rugged dwelling

من ينظر المرء في ايامه يره

كالغصن يذبل بعد النضرة الغصن

One who looks at people in their days sees them

Like a branch that withers after verdure, the branch

وكل محترز ريّاً الى ظمأ

يعود أظمأ شيء ما سقى المزن

And all who take precautions against thirst

Return more thirsty, how unquenched by the cloud!

والدهر اول ما تمضي له محن

كذاك آخر ما تبقى له محن

Fate’s first tribulation passes

Just so its last tribulation remains

لا يعدم الدهر يوما عادماً حزنا

لم تفترق شيم الايام والحزن

Time never lacks a day full of sorrow

The nature of days and sorrow never part

والارض للمرء اما ظهرها وطن

له مقرٌّ واما بطنه وطن

The earth for man is either its back, a homeland

He has refuge, or its belly, a homeland

والناس كالبدن للتنحار إن سلمت

لا تسلم الناس حتى تسلم البدن

People are like the body prone to decay, if left intact

People cannot be safe until the body is safe

انَّ الانام وان طالت سلامتها

لابد يقرنها في ميتة قرن

Though people's well-being be prolonged

Death must yoke them in a common death

لا ينفع المرء مال يستعدُّ به

ولا شجاعةَ ان اودى ولا جبن

Of no use to man is wealth he prepares

Nor courage if demise comes, nor cowardice

ومستقرٍّ على ايدي احبته

سدىً يداول بالايدي ويحتضن

And a final place in his loved ones' hands

Futilely handed about by hands and embraced

اوهى الرقاب على الاعواد محتملا

حتى تخيل محمولا بها حضن

Or necks on the coffin boards bearing him

As if carried in their bosom

ساروا به بسرير كلما اجتهدوا

ان يسرعوا الخطو اجلالاً به وهنوا

They carried him on a bier, whenever they tried

To hasten their steps, gently with him, and weakened

لو كان مما يردُّ الحتف طعن قناً

لردَّت الحتف عنها بالقنا اليزن

Had he been of those shielded from fate by a well-aimed spear-thrust

Fate would have shielded him through the well-aimed spear

او كان مما يردّ الموت ضرب ظبي

لردَّت الموت عنها بيضها اليمن

Or been of those shielded from death by a white-bladed sword

Death would have shielded him by its white blade

يمشي بنا اجل تلقاء غايته

وليس تنفعنا زغف ولا جنن

Our fixed term leads us to its destination

Raiding and madness avail us naught

قد قاد محتصد الآراء في شطنٍ

قود الجنيب ولم يستحصد الشطن

The opinions' harvester died at eve in a meadow

Having harvested the meadow but not the eve

اودى الذي ملأ الأيام سابقة

وكان مذ كان وهو السابق الارن

He who filled the days with precedence passed away

Existing since existence, the foremost companion

لا يتبع المال مناً حين ينفقه

والمنُّ بالجود نجل المرء والمنن

Wealth does not follow one who spends it

While generosity is the heirloom of man and favors

او يعقبنَّ نداه الجم وجمته

ما كل ذي كرم في وجمة قمن

Or his open-handedness is followed by his bounty and bounteousness

Not all noble ones are of plentiful bounty